In my series on the origins of modern art, I’ve looked at the predecessors that influenced the birth of Impressionism. The topics I’ve covered include the desire for greater artistic independence as exhibited by Gustave Courbet, the ways Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres … More…

Children’s book author and illustrator Thomas Taylor, at the age of 23, created the original cover art for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, as noted by Sotheby’s catalogue description. This iconic illustration for the first edition of … More…

In the late morning of Thursday, July 11th, a fire broke out in Rouen Cathedral in northern France. The cathedral is one of the most famous in the country. Though first consecrated in the eleventh century, in the presence of … More…

The Museum Barberini is one of the newer museums in the Berlin area. It opened in 2017 in Potsdam, immediately southwest of Berlin, to display the collection of Hasso Plattner, co-founder of the German software company SAP SE and one … More…

In the early morning hours of June 18th, police in Sag Harbor, New York, pulled over and arrested pop star Justin Timberlake for driving while intoxicated. He had refused to take a breathalyzer and failed the field sobriety test. Shortly … More…

This week, many of the main London auction houses will be hosting a variety of sales focusing on the art of the old Masters. Christie’s kicked everything off on Tuesday, July 2nd, with a duo of auctions. The morning sale … More…

Sotheby’s London hosted their Modern & Contemporary evening sale on Tuesday, June 25th, featuring paintings, drawings, and sculptures mainly by nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and North American artists. The auction’s top lot, predicted by Sotheby’s specialists as such, was a … More…